By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

However , for all this apparent failure of capitalism to deliver , the immediate prospect is not one of revolution towards a socialist alternative which would include nationalisation , the ending of the profit motive , and a planned economy with full employment , but rather one of the continuation of private enterprise , publicly-financed where weakest by the State , and of the further crippling of workers and the unemployed who bear the brunt of this failure .

Undoubtedly , the reasons for this total lack of socialist economic alternative , even in the absence of a strong constitutional force of the left either North or South , rest on political factors originating in Ireland's national history . In the North , the continuation of sectarian discrimination against the nationalist people , in order to maintain the State itself , has eradicated any basis for the growth of class politics . In the Free State , the centrality of the unresolved issue of partition in the political affiliations of the population , coupled with a labour movement historically afraid of that issue , has had a devastatingly similar effect in stifling even the mildest consideration of revolutionary economic solutions .

But of equal importance in considering the position of the Irish capitalist economy - and ultimately in considering its particular weaknesses - is the development of that economy historically.......(MORE LATER).

THE LEFT BEHIND.......

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

You work on a building site . You might have had a few jars the night before and maybe you don't feel too well . You might be thinking about getting home for something to eat . But right now you are down a hole , digging it deeper . Suddenly you hear - " How's it goin' lads ? " You look up and there's Dick Spring looking down into the hole , smiling : he asks if the digging is going okay . That can be very un-nerving.

Dick wanders off and starts to 'level' some concrete with a piece of timber , and lets it be known that he once worked on a building site . Nobody mentions that perhaps it might have been a good idea if he had stayed there . Dick gets a hard hat and a sledgehammer and poses for local photographers beside a bucket of concrete . 'Dick The Builder' , photographed filling a bucket of concrete with a sledgehammer . Someone remarks that Dick was known as a very dirty player on the sportsfield and Dick doesn't deny this . Dirty play is now parading as virtue . " Still am . When I don't get my own way , I walk off the pitch."

Later , on the way into a hotel , Dick notices that a poster of Dessie O' Malley has had eyeshadow and lipstick painted in . " Graffiti with taste , " he remarks . The political-circus bus drives on : Malahide , then Swords . At a shopping centre , it's time to talk to the punters again . The reaction is not great for the party leader who claims to represent the working class . Indeed , one woman says she will only vote for him when he gets her husband back to work , another woman says only when he gets her husband back from his job in England , and a third woman says only when he gets her a grant for some building work that she's trying to get done . A nurse says she will vote for Barry Desmond as she admires him , even though she wouldn't agree with everything he has done . But by now the timetable is getting loused up and Dick is led away by his handlers.......(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

There are now approximately 250 persons jailed in the Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast . It is impossible to be precise about the figures for they change from day to day . The Stormont Home Affairs Minister , Walter William Buchanan Topping, said on November 29 , 1957 , that 166 persons were being held without charge or trial and were interned : that 27 are being "detained" meaning that charges may be brought against them . W.W.B. Topping said 13 would definitely be charged and the question of charges against the remaining 14 was under consideration . Another 49 prisoners were serving sentences after conviction .

The 49 men sentenced since December 12 , 1956 , had been condemned to a total of 272 years imprisonment . British Minister Topping said that the intention of these young men was to "...blast Ulster (sic) out of their way.." He is wrong . What these young men - and some of them are not so young - are demanding is a free and united Ireland with the shadow of British Imperialism removed forever from the land . Irishmen and women at home and abroad salute the courage of these gallant men . We list here , firstly , the details of those sentenced to 'Penal Servitude.......' (MORE LATER).

ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.

By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

Every economic indicator tells its own story . Unemployment , officially put at more than 250,000 throughout the country , has never been higher . Growth in the Free State , by virture of its dependency on international investment , summarily pulled out by the Western world's recession , is stagnant . The North's economy , similarly , dependent almost totally in recent years on British government public spending , is crumbling as a result of monetarist policy decisions which demand cut-backs in state spending .

Whilst in the North the tight fiscal policies of the British government have brought inflation painfully down to single figures , the Free State - now separated by its independent punt in the European Monetary System - suffers inflation that soars uncontrollably each year by around twenty per cent .

In simple human terms , the economic statistics are translated into the depression of joblessness , either for those losing jobs or those never having had one in prospect . As a result too , come the cuts in real wages of those employed , decimating living standards . Adding to the misery is the severe drop in public services of all kinds , at a time when needed most , and the prospect of further cut-backs as the governments' response to the 'crisis'.......(MORE LATER).

THE LEFT BEHIND.......

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

The reception everywhere to Dick and Ruairi is similar : one man with a child refuses to stop and passes by . " He doesn't care , he's a Sinn Fein man ..." , says someone else , pointing to the child . " Did you see the funny man going by ? " he asks the child , " Did you see the man with the moustache ..." All of those belonging to the Labour Party camp-circus ignore the man and the child .

Supermarkets ! You look after the kids all day and then you go out shopping . Now it's getting on towards evening and you're tired . You're pushing the trolley along wishing you were at home . As you reach for that tin of beans , your hand is grabbed , and a Dick is there pumping it up and down , telling you who he is , introducing people to you , asking you for your vote . It rarely dawns on anybody that this man has been Deputy Prime Minister for the last four years . You're so surprised you just stand there and say nothing . Stalking between the shelves of supermarkets looking for innocent voters to accost is pretty safe because of the element of surprise . Dick wonders if it is of any benefit at all .

One woman says she won't be voting at all as she doesn't believe in politics . Another shopper says she wore a blueshirt and is not afraid to say so . A third woman tells Dick that she has been living in uninhabitable conditions for twelve years and , for Dick , this suddenly becomes a priority . Something will be done, he says . But not just now , alas , as it's time to move on to the hotel . Dick spots a building site across the road from the hotel.......(MORE LATER).

Monday, September 10, 2007

Portlaoise Town Commission called for the release of prisoners held in the Curragh Concentration Camp as a token of peace and goodwill . The motion was passed by three votes to two , with two members abstaining .

At Mountmellick Town Commission , the Chairman Mr Peter Johnson , said - " I was there (in the Curragh) one time myself and it isn't a very pleasant place to be . I think these men should be all released ." He asked for comments . None came . Expressing disappointment , he then said -

" These men shouldn't be arrested and pegged in behind barbed wire . None of you are going to say anything about it anyway . That is a bad thing ."

[END of 'RELEASE PRISONERS!'](Next : 'They Are Held In Belfast Jail' - from the same source)

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced . From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

Rita O' Hare stated : " Women both inside and outside the Republican Movement should also realise the importance of their necessary actions within the liberation struggle , not solely concentrated on women's issues , but active in all possible areas of that struggle .

In the aftermath of national liberation struggles around the world we have seen attempts made to force women who were active in those struggles alongside men back into subordinate roles in the new society . This danger cannot be overcome by standing on the sidelines . It can only be totally negated by the fullest possible involvement of determined women in the heart of that struggle . It is time that all of us faced up to these realities . "

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

Ruairi Quinn bought everyone lunch in Kitty O' Shea's pub. Dick Spring stated that there will be a second election within eighteen months . " Come on , we're wasting time . Let's go , " says Dick . It's back across the river and onto the Northside Shopping Centre,Charlie Haughey's political heartland . Fianna Fail are having a press conference at 3pm that same afternoon and there are very few photographers still with Dick and Ruairi . In any event , many had been under the impression that they would have to pay for their own lunch and this had the effect of diminishing the numbers somewhat .

Dick wanders in and out , into a shop here , a fast food joint there . Two customers , who appear to be engrossed in some sort of deal , are frozen with horror as they see Dick advance towards them with hand outstretched . One of them tells Dick that he should have run the full term of Office , whilst the other is "disgusted" by what the Labour Party has done but , before the argument can proceed , Dick is pulled away by a handler to sign an autograph . Whatever one may say about Dick Spring , he is not afraid to be challenged about his four years in government ('1169...' Comment -...providing he has a 'handler' present to pull him away to sign autographs..) .

On Water Rates , Dick said he would 'change the system' : one woman said her mother was stopped a pension because she 'had a few pounds from England' , while a second woman cannot get a medical card . Dick replied that he 'will see what we can do' . In reply to men out of work that he meets , he says that what is needed is a strong Labour Party but they seem unimpressed . One of them replied that he used vote Labour until Mickodid the dirt on him. And so the travelling circus moves on.......(MORE LATER).